Summary of selected order

Resentencing required where Ottawa Circuit’s LWOP sentence for murder committed when Defendant was 18 was cruel and unusual punishment

Defendant was convicted by jury of first-degree murder and related offenses for an offense committed when he was 18 years old, and the Court of Appeals affirmed. In lieu of granting leave to appeal, the Supreme Court vacated the sentence and remanded for resentencing holding that defendant’s mandatory sentence of life without parole for first-degree murder, committed when he was 18 years old, was cruel or unusual punishment in violation of Const 1963, art 1, § 16 under the decision in People v Parks (Docket No. 162086). People v Cabrera, No. 164354, 03-06-23; Frank E. Stanley.

John Zevalking
Associate Editor